Hello, Chocolate Milk

Well, hello, Chocolate Milk......where have you been all my life? I know I've ignored you for the last 28 years, but I'm about to make up for some serious lost time. Yesterday, John coerced me into sharing a Publix chocolate milk with him, and I am beyond hooked. I've been thinking about it all morning now. So far, my unwillingness to get in the car and drive to Publix has outweighed my need for the chocolatey goodness, but I'm feeling a shift in my mood coming on.......actually, I'm feeling a desperation similar to the '09 Apple Juice Incident.




Basically, if you're between me and the Brookhaven Publix right now, you might wanna get out of the way.




Since I'm probably going to have at least one of these chocolate milks every day for the rest of my pregnancy, I'll at least let you know that it's the lowfat version I'm now addicted to. 'Cause a girl's gotta watch her pregnant figure, right? Actually, no, she doesn't, and if you thought "yes" to that question, my hormones may have to slap you right now.




I'm really going to miss justifying my cravings as "pregnancy cravings." In life, I tend to have the sophisticated food palate of a 5-year old, which has been so much easier to get away with while blaming it on "the baby." Actually, I am going to miss blaming quite a few things on "the baby." Like why I need to get out of jury duty on September 15th.....or why I can no longer pick things up off the floor. Or even why I feel the need to whine about not getting to rent the movie that I wanted to watch last night.




(In case you were wondering, husbands don't generally find it attractive when you say things like: But whyyyyyyyyy can't we get The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past at Blockbusterrrrrrrrr??? I WAAAAAANNNNNTTT IT!)




Just fyi, people.



So, tomorrow is Completely Finish the Nursery and Buy Everything Baby Still Needs Day. When I mentioned my plan to John earlier this week, I saw tears of joy fill his eyes. Okay, it was actually probably just fear and trepidation, but still. I admit, I'm a bit fearful of Babies R Us, first thing on a Saturday morning too.



Wish us luck! And have some chocolate milk this weekend....you'll be so glad you did.

Childbirth Class Dropouts

Well, I'd love to be able to write this post about all the great things we learned at our childbirth class on Saturday.....except that I can't, because we were slackers and didn't go. Instead we chose to go pick out my birthday present, which was a new CAMERA! I mean, why do I need to spend time learning about the pain of childbirth, when I can practice my picture-taking skills for Ally Grace's birthday. Clearly, much more crucial.




I am seriously pumped about this new camera.....it does all kinds of cool things, like up to 10 photos per second, panoramic shots (for all those times I'll need that), and it even does HD video.....John made me promise to read the manual and learn all of the features, because I am notorious for just pressing buttons to figure things out. Who has time for a manual, right?




Anyway, here are some super-exciting shots that I took on Sunday.....after I finished reading the manual from start to finish, of course.




My favorite subject, ladies and gentlemen....isn't he really, really, ridiculously good-looking?

My other favorite subject, at least for the next 5 weeks. He has clearly perfected the "I'm so sad and hungry, will you please feed me now" look.

My brother-in-law, Jamey, was a great sport, as he's clearly trying to work, and I'm bothering him by taking multiple random pictures.

Didn't really need a panoramic picture of my living room, but wanted to see how it worked.....Now that I think about it, this might be a great way to start taking pictures of my giant belly.

Jackson and Sadie, sacked out after an extremely rough day of playing with each other. It must be SO hard to be a dog.

By the way, does your local Super Target have it's own jelly bean aisle? Because mine does! You can literally go scoop jelly bellies out of huge containers and make your own mix in a little bag. And yes, it's somewhat embarrassing how excited I got about that. I made a stellar mix of birthday cake & strawberry ice cream jelly beans, with some candy corns thrown in for a little extra fun. I know, my life is so exciting.

Everything's looking good on the baby front.....I'm just trying to figure out what I need to have for Ally Grace right when she's born and what I can wait to buy. Any advice from you mommies out there? Also, what did you pack in your hospital bag? If left to my own devices, I would probably rashly end up with strawberry cupcakes and People magazines, so your ideas are much appreciated!

Rib Torture, Nursery, & Fun Facts about Ally Grace

My ribs are being squeezed to death!!! AHHHH! I literally almost can't sit still it hurts so bad!



Okay, I needed that rash moment of exclamation point overusage in order to convey to you how very, very uncomfortable I am here in my 34 week of pregnancy. Obviously, I am uncomfortable enough that I want to sit here and whine like a 3-year old to the 2 people who read this blog.



And in other interesting 34th week developments: my tummy now rests on my thighs when I am sitting down. Gross and uncomfortable, to say the least. But, there are only SIX MORE WEEKS TIL ALLY GRACE GETS HERE! I had an ultrasound on Monday, and learned a few things about my little girl:


1. Most importantly, she is, in fact, STILL A GIRL. (Yes, they actually typed that onto the ultrasound photo).


2. She weighs 4lbs and 15oz.......almost a 5-pounder!


3. She's in the 42nd percentile for weight.


4. She actually has HAIR! Can you believe they can see that on an ultrasound? I honestly can hardly ever tell what they're showing me on the screen. Our conversation goes something like this:

Ultrasound Tech: See, there's her chin, nose, eye sockets, and her hands up by her face.

Me: Oh, um, yeah....I see it. (Nope, not even a little bit.....how in the world do they get that out of a bunch of fuzzy blobs?).


5. Apparently, she has some big nostrils.....which she clearly gets from her dad, b/c he can flare his nostrils to a size that I didn't think was humanly possible. Something I learned at our very first doctor's appointment, as he was poking through things he probably shouldn't be touching in the exam room, and ended up with cotton swabs up his nose. Which was also one of my favorite parts of the appointment.



She's doing great though, and growing just like she should. At my last appointment, the doctor was concerned that I was measuring 2 weeks behind (31 weeks, instead of 33), and at the ultrasound, we found out that my amniotic fluid is a little on the low side. So, we'll just be checked out again on Monday to make sure it's not decreasing.



On a different note, I realized that I never put up any photos of the special "creation" in her nursery....so, here's a little peek!



We had Ally Grace's monogram painted above her crib, by Kristen Davis, of KFD Designs.......she's super talented, and did a great job!











And here's a little shot of her crib with the bedding, which I LOVE! Although I will probably cry the first time she vomits/poops/other baby bodily functions on this bedding......I'm still working on lamps, and a couple of other things for the walls, but otherwise, it's almost totally finished and ready for her to move in! (I'll do some final photos of everything as soon as it's completely ready).




This weekend, we're doing our final baby class--this one is actually about childbirth.....yikes! I wasn't going to do one of these, and was instead planning to use the "fly by the seat of my pants/request the epidural immediately and chill" method, but I decided it might be good to know what to expect. Actually, I sort of got peer pressured into taking it by the midwives at my dr's office. No doubt, I'll have some interesting stories to share on Monday!

Boas, Tiaras, and Celebrity Babies....Oh Wait, That Was Actually My Baby Shower!

Oh, yes.....time for another baby shower post! On Saturday, my small group girls threw me an amazing baby shower with a Hollywood theme. Can I just say right now that I absolutely LOVED everything about it? I also loved being able to tell John that my subscription to People just paid for itself when I won a year's worth of baby wipes for matching a list of celebrity babies to their celebrity parents.....I know he must have been so proud.

(Okay, I'm back....I just had to take a very important break and eat 2 orange cinnamon rolls, you know, just to keep up my energy. Ready to go now!)

The shower was hosted by Kristin, Jenny, Haley, Brooke, Kimberly, & Kerie, and when I tell you that they thought of everything, I am so not exaggerating! These girls mean so much to me....they are not only accountability partners, but they also give me tons of encouragement and motivation in my relationship with Christ......not to mention, they're some of my best friends! I'm SO thankful to have each one of them in my life! AND, enough mushy stuff....on to the party!

Well actually, on to the pre-party, because Saturday morning, Kristin arranged for us to go have our makeup done at Nordstrom's MAC counter. It's kind of become a birthday tradition (did I mention today's my birthday?!), so we showed up at 11:30, and proceeded to get beautiful. Now, Kristin's makeup looked awesome, but for some reason, when I looked in the mirror at mine, I ended up looking like a cross-dresser. I think I'm just not used to so much makeup, because I immediately had to rub approximately 72% of it off of my face. I WAS, however, highly entertained by my makeup "artist," who told me that he (yes, HE) went to fashion school w/ Lauren Conrad, from the Hills......as a celebrity stalker and reality tv addict, I went to work getting the scoop from him. I also shared with him my other guilty pleasure.....the Real Housewives of Atlanta. (Kinda can't believe I just put that out in blogland....hope you'll all still be my friends.) He told me he sees them out on the town sometimes, and pronounced them all a "hot mess." Not only one is that of my favorite phrases of all time, but also probably what I looked like before I toned down my makeup job.

Anyway, the shower was actually held at my house, and I got my "hot mess" self home just in time for it to begin. I was amazed at what these girls had pulled off....pictures will do it more justice than my words, so enjoy!

The food was ridiculously good....all of my friends are Martha Stewart clones, which, sadly, has not rubbed off on me.

Here's me with the gorgeous hostesses.......my high school girls said that my friends looked like "airbrushed models." They are so right! : )

Here's Jenny with her new boyfriend, Oscar. He's kinda quiet, and frankly, a little bit jaundiced. Jenny, I'd probably tell him to check on that if I were you. Don't worry, we won't tell Jon about your new "friend."

Cute, cute, cute! And yes, Ally Grace is already quite the production. Just wait til Little Miss Diva gets here!

I was kind of obsessed with these strawberries in tuxedos....Martha to the extreme. Loved it!

Another pregnant friend, Caroline, and I....don't be jealous of my sassy black boa. Always the perfect accessory.

Here we are playing the previously mentioned celebrity baby matching game....I am killing it! Which is probably slightly scary and stalker-ish, but oh well. And yes, that IS a tiara.

The shower was a blast, and once again, it was so special to have amazing family and friends celebrating our little girl....she is already SO loved, and we feel truly blessed.

The REST of the evening turned into a birthday cookout for me/dog party for Jackson. It was super fun, and I will definitely have some photos to add from that later......there may even be some props.....how's that for a teaser?

Sneaky Dog Tricks & Apple Juice Psychosis

Yesterday, I caught myself talking to my dog. Well, I talk to him a lot, but I was actually carrying on a conversation with him. For about 5 minutes.

This is how interested he was in what I was saying.


Jackson's sneaky. He likes to come into my office while I'm working and entice me to rub his belly. He's totally thinking "look how adorable I am. You know you can't resist the belly rub when I roll over on my back like this. In about 2 seconds, you will quit what you're working on, scratch my tummy, and speak to me in nonsensical baby talk. Muahahahahaha."

And he was so, so right. That's exactly what I did.

Yesterday I woke up with probably my strongest pregnancy craving to date. I say strongest, because it was strong enough to get me out of bed at 6:30am, and make me run down to the kitchen like a lunatic. I think I even hurdled Jackson at the bottom of the stairs. Okay, no I didn't, I'm 33 weeks pregnant, I'm not hurdling ANYTHING at this point. But it was a good visual, right?

Anyway, I woke up literally feeling like I would sell a kidney for some apple juice. Apple juice! What?! I don't think I've even had any since I was at Vacation Bible School in the 5th grade. Thankfully, a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store, I picked some up, thinking, oh apple juice sounds kind of good. Little did I know that I would turn into a raging psycho for it yesterday. I downed half the jug immediately (there was no time for an actual glass, people....quit judging me for drinking from the container!). I was going for the 2nd half, when what caught my eye, but the calorie content.....dang. I put it down, slowly, because I had just added about 500 calories in JUICE to my day (Which would be totally worth it for, say a cupcake, but juice just feels like a waste of good calories). Anyway, I decided that I probably didn't need to double that number, because at some point after Ally Grace is born (and before she graduates high school), I'd like to fit back into my old clothes.

It was sad though. I kept thinking about that apple juice all morning long. Hmmmm, maybe I'll go finish it off now.....then it can't tempt me anymore, right? Don't mess, I am a master of rationalization.

I also had a crazy dream last night....probably because of the apple juice induced psychosis. Not only did I dream that I had the baby, but I dreamt that I didn't feel any of it and couldn't even remember going through labor. Then, her first night, she slept through the night, and when I went to pick her up, she was the size of a cell phone. Riiiiiight. In reality, she's probably closer to one of those old-school car phones that came in a bag....but, whatever. She was healthy and beautiful, and I tried to stay in that dream as long as I could! Then, she woke me up with some baby hiccups......imagine having something hiccuping down at the bottom of your tummy....super weird.

We have a doctor's appt on Friday, and then again in a couple of weeks. The month of September, we'll go weekly, and then little Miss Sassy-pants will be here! I can't believe how close we are!

(Oh, by the way, we're having something really cool done in her nursery, but it's a secret (mainly b/c my description won't do it justice)......I think it'll be finished tomorrow, so I'll post some pictures of it then.)

Ally Grace's First Wedding, Dancing on Tables, and My New Friend, John Boy

I really should be working right now, but I have a project to do that is possibly the most boring work project I have ever come up with for myself. Seriously. So, instead, I am blogging, because if there's anything you've learned about me at this point, it's that I love a good procrastination tactic.



We got back last night from a fun weekend in Savannah for our friend Ryan's wedding. The wedding was gorgeous, and the bride and groom were so happy! I managed not to die of heatstroke, and somehow kept the swelling to a minimum. A bunch of our friends were in town for the wedding too, so we had a great time hanging out with them. I was thinking back, and I think this is actually the first wedding we've gone to since I've been pregnant.....thus (don't you just love the word "thus?"), it was Ally Grace's first wedding. She behaved herself quite nicely, although I totally used her as an excuse to eat some tropical fruit flavored Mentos during the ceremony. Discreetly, of course.



On Friday, when we arrived in Savannah, we went straight to Lady & Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant) for lunch. They told us, oh yes, we can work you in.....tonight at 8:45. Ummm, yeah, probably not. We went to another restaurant on River Street, and then, more importantly, went to River Street Sweets.....yum! I got extra praline samples from a sweet lady who told me that "the baby needs them." Why, yes. Yes, she does. On the other hand, baby girl probably didn't need the 95,000 grams of sugar that I consumed over the weekend between pralines, peanut butter fudge, sugar cookies, marshmallows, cupcakes, and wedding cake.



Other weekend highlights included dancing on tables (yes, this REALLY happened--see, I have photo proof), debating with my friend Cole about why cupcakes are better than cake and how things that are "a la mode" just aren't right, and hitting people with my giant belly as I tried to scoot through the wedding crowds. Somehow, my belly isn't as small as I apparently think it is in my mind.



Also, someone (not naming any names, of course) clogged the toilet in our hotel room, and we had to call housekeeping for a plunger. Now, I just assumed they would bring a plunger to the room and leave it.....oh no, it came complete with a maintenance man to plunge the toilet for us. I apologized profusely and told him we could handle it, and he said that he actually had several "calls" to make after our room. He also told me I could call him "John Boy." How appropriate.


If I were a good blogger at all, I would've taken a picture with John Boy for your viewing enjoyment. Feel free to use your imagination.

32 Week Developments & Nursery Preview

Yesterday, I came across two interesting new pregnancy developments:

1. I can now rest things comfortably on my belly. Which I am doing often, and without thinking. I discovered this while sitting at my desk working, and drinking a bottle of water.....I literally looked down and found that I had used my belly as a coaster.

2. My face is now pregnant. It appears that my face is having this baby too! I was looking at some pictures and noticed that my face has been progressively getting chubbier over the last few months. Even when I pointed it out to my sweet husband, he was like, well, maybe just a LITTLE.....because he is such a great husband, I forgave him for saying something other than "no, no, your face is skinny and you have supermodel cheekbones." Maybe it's part of that whole end of pregnancy swelling thing? I don't know, but I'm thinking that while chubby cheeks are cute on a baby, they're probably not so much on me.

By the way, this is my pregnancy uniform. I wear this outfit almost anytime I'm at home, and I'm considering just wearing it every day until she's born. A) Because I am trying to subliminally coerce her into being a die-hard Georgia fan (not that she has a choice!), and B) because these sweatpants magically grow with my pregnant booty and thighs. If you come to my house between now and October, you WILL see me in this!

Otherwise, things are going great! I'm officially in my 32nd week, and I can't believe how quickly Ally Grace will be here now! I am getting so, so excited to meet my daughter. And possibly to give her some grief for all the strategic bladder poking she's doing in there. The other night, John and I were on the couch, and she started up some kind of crazy gymnastics routine in there. For a minute, I had the slightly irrational fear that a little alien was about to burst out of my tummy, like in some freaky sci-fi movie.....not that I really watch those, but you know what I mean.

We've nearly gotten the nursery ready.....here's a sneak peak! We're still missing our bedding, crib skirt, rug, and a couple of things for the walls, but you will get the idea. I really wanted to keep things pretty neutral in here, for the sake of being able to re-use down the road. Now my biggest challenge is organizing all the baby gear into some sort of system. Most of you realize that I am what we like to call "organizationally challenged." So, this is obviously no small task for me! If any of you have little pearls of wisdom, send them my way!

The painted and glazed dresser/changing table, I've already told you about, and the glider is a FABULOUS gift from my parents.....it is the most comfortable chair on the planet! The crib is a Jenny Lind, which we had glazed to match the dresser. The crib skirt will be the same fabric as the window treatments, and we're using this china hutch that was in our old breakfast area for extra storage. How much do you love this monkey fabric that we put in the windows?

By the way, John and I went on a date the other night to see the movie 500 Days of Summer....it was an extremely rare occurence of us wanting to see the exact same movie, so we seized the moment. I HIGHLY recommend it, if you haven't seen it already. Hilarious, and worth it even just for the opening credits. Go, and you will see what I mean. We love movies, and so we've already been planning what to see next.....actually, we are negotiating, because I had to trade him District 9 and G.I. Joe for The Time Traveler's Wife and Julie & Julia. Since it's my birthday month, we'll go see my picks first......a rule that I just made up, but it sounds fair, right?

Anyway, I'm wondering if it's too early for me to be "nesting" or if that's something that happens now? I always thought it was right before the baby comes, and I laughed at stories of women who were going into labor while cleaning their tile grout w/ toothbrushes. Thinking that I would probably go into labor getting a pedicure, reading People, watching the Bachelor, or something equally lazy. Now, suddenly, I'm finding myself getting so bothered by brown spots in our front yard, that I have actually considered taking some green spray paint out there to cover them. Or, how about having to clean the outside of our stainless steel fridge EVERY SINGLE TIME I see a fingerprint on the door? (Which is basically every time I look at it). Or even getting down on the floor to clean up Jackson's little dusty paw prints each and every time he comes in from outside? Oh boy......I am SO going to be one of those girls who goes into labor scrubbing something insane.

We're off to Savannah this weekend for our friend Ryan's wedding.....I'm excited for a little mini-vacation, even though Savannah+8 months pregnant=possible heatstroke and some really unattractive swelling. I'm totally going to get John to take me to Paula Deen's restaurant though, since I only have 8 more weeks to take advantage of the "eating for two" excuse!

Need Your Help!

Okay, blog-reading friends....I need a little help. Our dining room table was just delivered, and we are working on some chairs to go with it. Thanks to a suggestion from my friend Jessica (who owns Design Laine, Inc., and is an amazing interior designer!), I got these seagrass chairs from World Market.



The chairs for the heads of the table will look like this (we just don't have them yet):










SOMEONE in our household, who shall remain nameless, but whose name starts with a "J" and ends with an "ohn," doesn't like them. Which means, of course, that I LOVE them.



So, if you think this look is at ALL cute (or even if you don't, and are just willing to pretend that you do), PLEASE post a comment to help me convince him that this is the way to go!

Baby Shower Time!

Baby Shower update time! I know you've been waiting on the edge of your seats. I just got some pictures this morning, so now I can actually show you what an amazing shower my sweet friends threw for me and Miss Ally!

Steph, Eryn, and Marci are some of my best friends from college....Steph, I met during our freshman orientation at UGA (omg, 11 years ago! AHH!)--mainly because we were trying to flirt with the same cute boy! We've been best friends ever since, and have had some really fun times together. Eryn, I met during my senior year of college because I was dating her brother, Evan, at the time. We bonded super fast, and lived together that last year of college and first year in Atlanta.....she is an amazing roommate, and an even better friend! She hosted the shower at her incredibly beautiful house in Decatur, and she is what I like to call, "very Martha." (Stewart, that is.) And speaking of "very Martha," Marci is another friend whose "Martha-ness" inspires me! Not only did she show me a beautiful blanket that she's knitting (YES, KNITTING...I am so impressed) for Ally Grace, she also made the absolute coolest diaper wreath for Eryn's front door.

See?! It even has little baby goodies woven in there......it's now hanging on Ally Grace's nursery door, and I have vowed not to disturb the cuteness to use any of the treats included with the wreath....John says that idea will go out the window the minute I am in the middle of a blowout diaper change and need to grab a clean diaper. I said, you mean when YOU'RE in the middle of the blowout diaper change, b/c last time I checked, those are for daddies. (Just like killing roaches, spiders, and various other gross things).

Anyway, speaking of Martha-ness, Steph exhibited a very impressive Martha moment as well---here we are admiring her "Diaper Cake," also too pretty to touch! This picture doesn't look staged at ALL, right?

Here I am with Marci, plotting my strategy for the food table. (And the food was super fabulous, by the way!)

The best part of the shower was the people who came to celebrate, though. I honestly felt really loved, and it meant so much to spend time with friends and family who have been such special parts of my life......and who I know will be special to Ally Grace too. I have to say, she's going to be the most stylish little girl around, because those tiny outfits are TOO precious. I may just play dress up with her all day long! Here are some adorable little booties (booties=kind of a weird word, right?):

Are you just dying at the cuteness?! Thanks, Sara, we LOVE them!

Also, this outfit is too, too precious..... our little ballerina-in-training.

And I'm not going to lie, this BOB stroller is one of my favorite things! If I didn't totally exceed the weight limit, I'd make John jog me around the neighborhood in it. Jackson's going to be jealous of this one. Btw, you like my "mommy-to-be" sash, don't you? Every girl needs a sash sometimes. I may just start wearing it when I go to the grocery store, and the doctor's office...the possibilities are endless.

It was a great, great day.....girls, thank you so much for doing this for me! I can't wait to return the favor for each of you!

Let me leave you with a couple of other pictures from the weekend.....apparently, at our house, we like to wrestle:

In a couple of months, this could be you, Ally Grace.

Aw, and this could have actually been a cute picture, except Jackson seems to be eyeing a certain inappropriate area with a little too much interest. How adorable.

But he really can't wait to meet his little sister!

What a Weekend!

Whew! I am exhausted, and it's only Monday......we had a crazy weekend, and I will definitely be posting more details (and pictures) shortly. The main event was an amazing, amazing baby shower thrown by some of my best friends from college: Steph, Eryn, and Marci. You girls are awesome, and it was a perfect day! Thank you for making me feel so loved. Ally Grace already loves her "cool aunts" so much.

Of course, ANOTHER exciting event was waking up this morning to find a pile of vomit that Jackson had strategically placed on our living room rug.....thanks for avoiding the hardwoods, Jack.....it's WAY more fun to work on getting it out of each and every rug fiber.